Path of Exile remains completely free, game-content wise. Adhering to the developer’s ‘Ethical free-to-play’ business model, while you can buy PoE currency with real money, that’s the absolute extent to which cash can change the game. Everything else in the (extensive) cash-shop is purely cosmetic and re-usable across characters, leagues and beyond. It’s an example that I wish more free-to-play developers would follow.Path of Exile has expanded, with War For The Atlas bringing new content and mechanics to the post-story multiverse, and the Abyss Challenge League adding a (literal) fresh hell to explore.

Check out the very extensive patch notes for the update here, or read on for a shorter reminder of what’s in this major two-part update.

We’ve previously covered both the expansion itself and its accompanying new league mechanic in depth, but if you don’t feel like wading hip-deep through that again, here’s the abridged version:

The endgame is a LOT bigger now. While the previous expansion – Fall of Oriath – vastly expanded the scale of the main story (from 4 acts looped over 3 difficulty settings, to one steady ramp-up of difficulty across 10 distinct acts), War For The Atlas builds on the post-story adventures that begin once you’ve run out of gods to murder and start dipping into parallel dimensions so that you can murder their deities.

War for the Atlas integrates all the content from Fall of Oriath into the Atlas, along with some new tricks of its own. For example, two rival gods of creation are now fighting over control of the multiverse, and your strategic choices will gradually affect the outcome of the conflict. Whichever god you help to victory will be who you’re throwing down with as your True Final Boss at the end of space and time itself. Given that the previous story decision of the game was which of three bandit leaders to spare (if any) back in Act 2, this is a teensy bit of an escalation in stakes.

This is all endgame content, though. To spice up the long road to eternity, there’s the new league which has sweeping effects on the whole game should you participate. You’ll have to roll a new character to join the fun, but you’ll find the world infested with new undead monsters that burrow up through cracks in the ground. Follow these spreading crevasses through the map far enough, killing critters as they spawn, and you might encounter a mini-boss, chest full of new abyssal gear, or even a tunnel down into the depths to face the lich at the heart of this new infestation in a knock-down, drag-out multi stage boss fight.

More and more people join the poe team. Of course, I wish more free-to-play developers would follow ‘Ethical free-to-play’ business model. If you want to more about poe news, you can visit U4gm. It's here, You can get not only poe news and guidelines, but also here we provide the cheap POE currency you want.

]]>In the past few days, we are discussing the War for the Atlas.The Path of Exile is an action game and the economy in Path of Exile is different from other MMORPGs. You do not need gold to buy things, but you can exchange the items in Path of Exile currency. Part of the fun of Path of Exile is setting up combinations of skills, support skills, and items in order to create a constant whirling hailstorm of death for everything around you.

The latest article on the official site isn’t just showing off the new skill options for the game’s next expansion; it’s showing off how all of those options interact to create some devastating combinations. Like Unearth, a skill designed to just create corpses (that is, corpses from nothing, not from killing enemies). Is that limited? Not so much when you combine it with Greater Multiple Projectile and Spell Echo to make an entire floor covered in Skeleton Archer corpses.

This skill fires a physical projectile into the ground where you target, creating a corpse you can use with other skills.

This skill can generate up to ten corpses and can only shoot one projectile at a time when it is not supported by other gems. To maximise the corpse output, you can combine it with Greater Multiple Projectiles and Spell Echo. This is a simple but reliable way to deploy a concentrated cluster of corpses, which is great for skills like Cremation.

The corpses are skeleton archers which are much stronger than most skeleton archers you'll find in the world. This means they're reliable ranged spectres if you're wanting to play a build that rapidly re-summons spectres. There may even be a new unique item on its way that would facilitate this!

What do you do then? You could reanimate all of them and have a little firing squad, sure. You could also use some other skills, like Cremation, Volatile Dead, or Bodyswap, to make the corpses along start serving as an offensive tool to make even more corpses. And then you could pair in options like Spell Cascade with Volatile Dead to provide even more insane interactions. But don’t take our word for it; you can actually see all of the absurdity on the official site. If you want to more about poe news, you can visit Gm2v.

]]>Path of Exile is a free-to-play online action role-playing video game developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. The economy in Path of Exile is different from other MMORPGs. You do not need gold to buy things, but you can exchange the items in Path of Exile Currency, Path of Exile will be bringing a brand new expansion in the form of War of the Atlas on Friday. This brings a brand new story in which an ancient entity is known as The Elder, who is looking to take control of the Atlas of Worlds from The Shaper.

“Being able to leech instantly meant that many threats were completely mitigated by high-damage fast-hitting characters with minimal leech investment,” Grinding Gear Games explains. “Vaal Pact has been changed to no longer grant instant leech, but instead doubles your character’s leech rate and maximum leech rate. This was one of the most heavily-requested nerfs in the history of Path of Exile.” War of the Atlas brings a wealth of new content to Path of Exile, including:

32 Additional Maps

Exiles will traverse new ravaged lands across 32 new maps, where new paths and challenges will be discovered as Path of Exile continues to grow and evolve.

Elder and Shaped Items

To take the fight across the several new maps in the fight for either Elder or Shaper control, players will stumble upon rare items which can be used for crafting powerful properties never before seen.

New Gems and Unique Items

The upcoming expansion also brings with it 10 new Gems, ranging from Skill Gems and new Supports. The Skill Gems are predominantly focused around necromancy, whilst the six Supports are made to augment a number of different skills in all new ways. As for Unique Items, players can expect to find 50+ new Unique Items in War for the Atlas, with many being designed by the game's community.

Supporter Packs

A new set of Supporter Packs are also going to be launched, feature the four exclusive armour sets donned by the Elder Guardians, joined by new weapon effects, portrait frames, t-shirts, forum titles, portals and microfibre cloth maps showcasing the new Atlas.

The Abyss Challenge League

December 8th also marks the release of the Abyss Challenge League, which will release on this date on PC, shortly followed by the launch on Xbox One. This will see Exiles fighting against foes of the underworld in a journey across Wraeclast. Get your hands on new Abyss Jewels, utilize the customization options for your character and items and much more.

3.1.0 is due to roll out Friday; you can check out our detailed preview from Gm2v for more!

]]>The Abyss Challenge League launches alongside the War for the Atlas expansion that includes many new uniques, gems, enemies and more! As you break ground in the new league there are 40 challenges to conquer for exclusive rewards. Completing 12, 24 and 36 challenges can earn you the Abyss Helmet, Abyss Wings and Abyss Portal Effect Respectively.

We have been playing Path of Exile for a while now and are proud to be the best place online to buy PoE currency for the lowest price. However the last few months, we have noticed that the popularity of Path of Exile has really started to grow. POE was recently released on Xbox One and that brought a whole new audience to it. Some though are still not on board, But today I want to share with you the goal of my Abyss League goals.

1) My first level 100 character. After the turmoil and mayhem races I now have a much better understanding of playing efficiently, though my highest character is still only 92, and I have heard that 97+ is kind of brutal compared to the levels before that, so I am still unsure if I will end up just dying of boredom first (may abandon this goal if it becomes too grindy and boring and go back to my usual testing new characters and builds again and instead aim to have builds that excel at different things, like a dedicated lab farmer, boss killer, mapper/magic find character, may even finally do Hall of Grandmasters).

2)Getting good/very good equip to be able to do Shaper, Alluring Abyss and Elder. Become fairly rich (basically able to afford a mirror or headhunter kind of wealth, not stupid rich like 5,000 exalts kind of wealth).

3) Kill Uber Atziri. This is a fight I've just always shied away from, but I'd like to do it this time around.

4) 40/40 challenges. I think there were only 2 from the list I wasn't really looking forward to, rest should be quite easy for me.

5) Enjoy the shit out of Abyss now that I have a solid understanding of the game and its mechanics and such, I'm super excited to use that to get ahead this league (I just picked up the game again late in legacy league and was pretty overwhelmed still going into harbinger).

What are your Abyss League goals? If you want to more about Path of Exile news, you can visit GM2V.

]]>If you want to have success into the pitch, you must to know the basic controls of the game.

In this tutorial we will share with you the best FIFA 16 tips about intermediate skill moves.

To do the stand fake pass hold RT (XBox) / R2 (Playstation) while standing still and perform a fake shot by powering up with the shoot button and cancelling with the short pass button. Your player will kick the ball and then drag it back again with the sole of their foot.

To perform the heel flick turn, hold RB (XBox) / R1 (Playstation) and flick the right stick forward then back. Your player will drag the ball back, tap it with the other foot and kick it in the opposite direction to forward on coming defender.

For a simple rainbow, flick the right stick back the forwards twice. Time it right and your player will flick the ball up in the air and overhead. Use it to fall a defender and if you just feel like showing off.

To do some intermediate skill moves, you may need to use a modifier as well as the right analogue stick. Be sure to spend some time in the practice arena to properly learn these skills with the help of FIFA 16 Coins. Please, be sure that you already know how to perform the basic skill moves, before going to more difficult ones.

To make things easier to understand, watch this Intermediate Skill Moves Tutorial video for FIFA 16:

]]>Can you bear with yourself being called noobie in Blade and Soul?

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Because We are 24 X 7 Online, if you have any questions with buying Blade Soul Gold, you can contact us anytime and we will try our best to help you.

No business too small, no problem too big.

]]>I have been playing FUT since Nov 2014, and have 3 average teams (Seria A, Bundesliga, BPL) with 120,000...ish saved, but the next tier of player's that would improve my team are ridiculously expensive (Di Maria,Robben,Ribery,etc.) It seems that to improve my teams, i will have to spend REAL money on either Coins or points, and in my mind that just doesn't seem right?

I see what you mean - ive played people who I know I can beat - put it into seasons and matched squads and yes probably win top fifa coins. Give them a few OP players in UT and they're scoring long shots that you might only get 1/10 with your cheap squad. I just find that you have to put the extra effort in to nutralise those OP players

You could say that about any player regardless of price. Take Doumbia for example, he is a relatively cheap player but there have been games where my opponent has scored multiple goals with him and got the win. It isn't "pay to win" because in the end you still have to play the game and be better than your opponent. I played a guy last night that had Ronaldo and Messi up top with sol Campbell, Hierro, and van der sar in the back. He quit before half time when I was winning 2-0. I also futscoped him (dramaonyoutube) and he was terrible. I find this to be the case more often than not. The dudes with teams worth tens of millions of coins are easy wins. It's when I play a team of silvers that I get nervous

Honestly, it has happened way too many times that I play some guy with a super expensive team, and I lose fifa ultimate coins. The match facts will be something like 15 shots for me, while he has 2. Possession 60% vs 40%. One goal from an impossible angle with Messi or Ronaldo and I'm already fucked because they have top tier defenders that make impossible clearances... There is definitely a big element of pay to win here. Not saying it is decisive, but it's there.

]]>The football simulation video game “FIFA 16” developed by EA Sports may have been reviewed as inferior compared to its counterpart “Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2016” developed by Konami, but the former still has the gamer numbers compared to the latter.

As if to show to “PES 2016” that it is still the more popular football simulation video game, EA Sports reported that “FIFA 16” has recorded 326 million matches played across all game platforms just 16 days after the game was released on September 22, notes the PlayStation Lifestyle.

The game developer also released an infographic about “FIFA 16” showing that there have been 1.5 billion hours played in total as well as 693 million goals scored.

EA Sports also took it as an opportunity to thank the fans for their continued support to the “FIFA” franchise.

The biggest in franchise history

EA Sports also disclosed in its website that “FIFA 16” is the biggest football simulation video game in franchise history.

The developer said that the warm reception of the fans on the game only proves on Fifa 16 Account that they have succeeded in making sure that “FIFA 16” is fair, fun, and secure.

It added that its decision to bring back the Web & Companion App as well as making it easier for gamers to buy and sell in the improved transfer market has worked wonders for the fans to really appreciate “FIFA 16” all the more.

And for the very remarkable and healthy start of “FIFA 16,” EA Sports also announced that it will be rewarding all FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) users with an Ultimate Loan Players Pack., which is also the developer’s way of saying thank you to the millions of gamers and fans who have continuously supported and played the video game.

Positive reviews

Barely two months after its official release to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, “FIFA 16” is currently drawing positive reviews from both gamers and critics despite sub-par comparisons to Konami’s “PES 2016.”

In addition to bursting with new contents, one of the most lauded features of the “FIFA 16” is the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) Mode, which is a game mode where players must learn to form teams with the cards they randomly get from digital booster packs.

After assembling the team in the FUT Mode, gamers can start participating in several tournaments and get a chance to win a championship to earn more fifa 16 coins which can eventually be used to build their respective dream team.

Those in a hurry to get things done can always shell out real money, typical with most video games, but it is not an obligation or mandatory.

Some gamers shun the constant internet connection requirement on most video games, particularly those offering multiplayer and co-op gameplay modes. In the case of the FUT Mode, it also requires constant internet connection but the player is not forced to play against other players online.

It is just that internet connection is imperative because some of the features of the gameplay mode can only be accessed online.

While the FUT Mode gives gamers the excitement to create their own football team, they should always bear in mind that the most important factor to consider in playing the mode is team chemistry. Having the best players in the league in one’s team may look good on paper but without chemistry, it’s no different than playing with a rag-tag team of rookies.

The FUT Mode teaches gamers the value of teamwork and chemistry in team sports because regardless of how great one player plays the game, without the support of his teammates, he simply would not be able to earn the wins all by himself. Football is a team sport so when EA Sports developed it, it was looking for gamers to appreciate the essence of having good chemistry and playing as a team.

The new and biggest feature of the FUT Mode is the FUT Draft, which is a mode that allows gamers to create a team with random golden players.

]]>EA has been generous enough to provide all FIFA 16 players with a nice surprise today. Upon next logging in to the game, you should see a free FIFA 16 Ultimate Loan Player pack waiting for you to open.

This is the best loan pack available in the game as it will give you an 85-90 rated player to use for a specific number of games and do not cost any of your fifa coins – along with some other consumable items.

Unfortunately the consumables cannot be traded on, but it is still a nice gesture after fans have been asking EA to give out some free packs for a long time.

EA says that the reward is due to the continued support of players, so hopefully they decide to feel even more generous over Christmas and give players a player pack which can be traded – then fans will really appreciate it.

Still though, many of you will be happy with the extra players in your club so let us know who you received in your pack – did anyone manage to get Ronaldo?

]]>We can see that many West Ham fans are continuing to ask the question on why isn’t Reece Oxford in FIFA 16. Many players had expected the player to be available, at least for FIFA 16 Career Mode but unfortunately he is nowhere to be seen.

The main reason to this is likely due to his young age. Usually EA would not put such a young player into the game until they are 18 years old, but having said that it is well worth pointing out that Martin Odegaard is in FIFA 16 – another player who is only 16.

If EA can make an exception for Odegaard, then fans may wonder why they can’t do the same for Reece Oxford, a rising star in the Barclay’s Premier League.

Hopefully when EA are preparing for their big FIFA 16 Winter update for player stats and upgrades, Reece Oxford to West Ham on FIFA 16 will also be considered.

Would you like to see EA add this player into FIFA 16 in a future update? Most will agree that having him on Career Mode would still be easy to get cheap fifa 16 coins, even if Reece Oxford isn’t in the FIFA 16 Ultimate Team database.

Let us know your thoughts on this and make your voices heard if you want him included.

]]>Every year EA Sports are handed the thankless task of deciding ratings for champions, contenders, relegation-fodder and everyone else in between. They’re not infallible, nor do they have access to a crystal ball when making their decisions.

It’s a near-impossible task to sift through every team’s performance last season and conclude whether they’re a genuine talent or just another one-season wonder. The same goes for players too, but it can be easier to pick up on overrated footballers when you see them every time you log into Ultimate Team.

If you can drag yourself away from FIFA’s wildly successful mode and drop back into realistic matches, you’ll notice that several of FIFA 16’s biggest teams have been given incredibly generous ratings when compared with their FIFA 16 Coins XBOX 360. Title winners have fallen to unimaginable lows, and champions have withered away, while former giants are constantly given over-inflated ratings due to their reputation and historical success.

Any earlier in the season, you could claim that it was just a dip in form, but with almost all of the domestic leagues flicking into double figures in the ‘games played’ column, we have a far better idea on who the seriously overrated teams actually are…

8. Marseille – 4.5 Stars

FIFA 16: Marseille are an attractive alternative to PSG in the game. They are to Ibrahimovic & Co. what Dortmund are to Bayern Munich. They may not have a team crammed full of world megastars, but with a 4.5 star rating, Marseille are capable of beating just about anybody. Nicolas Nkoulou and Lassana Diarra provide solidity at centre back and central midfield respectively, while Remy Cabella, Michy Batshuayi and the rampant pace of Romain Alessandrini provide more than enough quality going forward.

Reality: The seasoned French side have only recently ended a 5 game winless run after Batshuayi and Alessandrini both scored and assisted one another in a 2-1 win over Lille. Despite taking a much-needed three points, Marseille are sitting 14th in Ligue 1, hardly a position worthy of such a high FIFA rating.

7. Real Sociedad – 4.5 Stars

FIFA 16: Real Sociedad are La Liga’s football hipster side in FIFA 16. Forget Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. Don’t bother with Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao or Valencia. Real Sociedad are a 4.5 star team with some relatively obscure talent backing up their claim to be a true Spanish contender/underdog. They come armed with four 79-rated central midfielders, 80 and 81 rated centre backs, while former Arsenal product Carlos Vela runs the show with an 82 rating. What’s not to like?

Reality: They’re one of the more famous mid-average Spanish sides in the UK due to the fact that former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes is in charge. Things were looking good for a time following an excellent 7th place finish, but his position has come under huge pressure after a weak start to the season. Sociedad are 15th, and need to bounce back. Quickly.

6. AC Milan – 4.5 Stars

FIFA 16: They may not be the great side they once were, but AC Milan still come with an excellent rating and a fine crop of players to run riot with. Colombian striker Carlos Bacca is the pick of the bunch, but his stats are more impressive than a simple 82 rating. He’s got pace, power, shooting and dribbling ability. Combine him with Jeremy Menez and Mario Balotelli, and you’ve got yourself a potent strikeforce to compliment a rugged, sturdy defence.

Reality: You don’t need me to explain the depressing details behind AC Milan’s painful fall from the top of Italian football. You can see for yourself that their squad is devoid of quality such as Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alessandro Nesta and countless more world class footballers, and they’re suffering because of it. Milan languish in 8th place, while fierce rivals Inter have clawed their way back among the elite, sitting in 3rd.

5. Stoke City – 4.5 Stars

FIFA 16: If Real Sociedad are the hipster choice for La Liga, Stoke are the Premier League equivalent. In England you’ve got the so-called ‘top teams’ made up of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea (more on them later…) and the chasing pack of Euro-contenders includes Spurs, Liverpool and Everton. However, Stoke City find themselves on par with those 4.5 star teams, with Bojan, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Ibrahim Afellay in their squad.

Reality: Stoke were widely tipped to be this season’s dark horses after an impressive summer spending spree and solid management from a settled Mark Hughes, though in reality, their stars haven’t quite lived up to their billing. Bojan is yet to get back up to top speed following injury, Shaqiri has only shown glimpses of his class, and Afellay is yet to truly cement down a first team slot. They’re a good team, but they’re simply not great.

4. England – 5 Stars

FIFA 16: If you want a classic international team with former glory and a fresh set of stars, England are a great bet. You can assemble a perfect balance of experience in the shape of Wayne Rooney and John Terry, and pace in the form of Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott. Quality, power, pace, England have it all…

Reality: Each year it’s a case of seeing how overrated England are. Every single FIFA game notches them well above their level in reality, and FIFA 16 is no exception. On the face of it, England have a 100% winning record in their European Qualifier group. 30 points out of 30 available. Congratulations England, you toppled the mighty San Marino, behemoths Lithuania and fearsome Estonia… The story is recurring. England are excellent against the minnows, but can’t hold their own against the best in the world.

3. Netherlands – 5 Stars

FIFA 16: Holland are a slick, fluid, exciting team, and a great alternative to the usual suspects like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain; plus you get to wear those orange kits. They’re slightly lacking in defence, but they more than make up for it with pure attacking class in the shape of Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Memphis Depay and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Reality: Holland are out of Euro 2016 before the tournament has even started. Czech Republic won Group A, Iceland qualified in second, Turkey secured a playoff spot in third, and the Dutch were left out to rot in 4th with just Kazakhstan and Latvia finishing below them. It’s a travesty for Dutch football, and a genuine shame that one of the brightest international teams won’t be lighting up the tournament stage next year. It’s sad to declare, but Holland simply haven’t got the 5 star credentials.

2. Chelsea – 5 Stars

FIFA 16: Chelsea went into 2015/16 as the Champions of England being steered by Jose Mourinho towards an even brighter future. EA justifiably slapped huge ratings on their players and the club as a whole. For starters, they maintained their 5 star status, while Eden Hazard (89), Cesc Fabregas (87), Diego Costa (86) and John Terry (85) among many others were handed generous boosts.

Reality: The Champions League would have been firmly in their sights this season for Chelsea after wrapping up the league last time around. But the dream of focusing on Europe’s top prize is on hold as the club desperately flap around for a top half spot in the Premier League. It’s astonishing to see how far they’ve fallen with the FIFA 16 Coins XBOX ONE, but it’s true, Chelsea are sitting in 15th position with all of their top stars firing blanks, and Jose Mourinho’s job set to be under genuine scrutiny. Watch this space.

1. Juventus – 5 Stars

FIFA 16: Juventus are one of the most attractive teams on the entirety of FIFA 16 with a perfect blend of everything you need to be successful on the game. Paul Pogba is their star man; a marauding midfielder with an 86 rating and a set of skills good enough for any side in the world. Juve have 15 players with an 81 rating or above, demonstrating that they have strength in depth as well as individual star quality.

Reality: Juventus are one of the most disappointing teams in the entirety of world football right now. The Italian giants could make history by winning a fifth consecutive league title if they triumph this season, but as each game passes, their challenge becomes harder as they’ve fallen down to 12th place. This is all just a few months after squaring up against Barcelona in the Champions League Final. An enormous turnaround is needed if they are to salvage their season…and save their stars from moving onto other clubs.

]]>FIFA 16 might be the most realistic soccer experience the franchise has offered, but that might not be a good thing. FIFA 16 proves defense doesn't always win.

It’s hard to deny that soccer is becoming more and more popular in the United States. It has long been the king of sports in the rest of the world, but now Americans are finally starting to embrace the game that has kids around the world setting up empty garbage cans in the street to use as makeshift goals. The question is: What took so long?

One of the main complaints Americans have always lobbed at the sport of soccer also happens to be one of the main complaints with FIFA 16: It’s too defensive minded. Of the many things that soccer fans around the world love about their cherished game, perhaps the foremost is the suspense. Sure, many games end with a score of 1-0 or, even worse, 1-1, but it’s the constant back and forth struggle that makes every goal that much more fifa coins. This style, while pleasing to many in a live sports format, may not translate as well to the video game world.

New Features – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

One of the key additions to FIFA 16 is the ability of talented players to handle the ball without actually handling the ball. Yes, no touch dribbling is a game mechanic that allows players to do what the greats often do and use their body as much as the ball to gain a positioning advantage on the opponent. Utilizing it is fairly simple, and for anyone familiar with deking in the NHL franchise, the concepts are very similar.

FIFA 16 has also introduced some changes to slide tackling. Longtime fans of FIFA are used to every slide tackle being successful. This time around, however, it is possible for the offensive player to evade a slide tackle with some slick maneuvering. This and the aforementioned no touch dribbling are nice weapons to have in one’s arsenal when trying to solve the game’s new defensive riddles.

The changes to the defense, as mentioned, really slow down the gameplay and give the game a more realistic feel. While a “realistic feel” would be considered a positive thing in a lot of sports games, there are just enough flaws with these changes to make them more of an irritant than a quality addition to the game. For example, the defensive AI now has the ability to anticipate a pass, cut into the passing lane, and intercept it with a competence never before seen in a FIFA game.

This wouldn’t be such a negative thing if the offensive AI, your teammates, shared that same competency. Instead, your teammate will sit there and watch as the ball is intercepted by the defense like Ryan Tannehill’s teammates do when he’s throwing against the practice squad (sorry, I’m more qualified to make NFL jokes than FIFA jokes). This can get pretty frustrating.

Another defensive-minded change is the ability the defenders have to find something deep within themselves that allows them to achieve superhuman speed and therefore interrupt me when I’m blazing down the field with Lionel Messi on my way to what should be an easy breakaway goal. In other words, having a step on your opponent is no longer the advantage it once was. Even controlling some of the fastest players in the game while breaking down the field does not guarantee that some Johnny-Come-Lately won’t swoop down and slide tackle the ball away from you. I understand EA’s desire to accentuate defense, but it often seems unnatural how quickly some of the defenders can close the distance.

Girl Power

If you were paying attention to the display image in this article, you may have noticed something that is unfortunately almost unheard of in the world of sports gaming. Yes, that is a woman (gasp!). And not just any woman, that is the supremely talented Alex Morgan who helped lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a World Cup victory earlier this year. With the exception of my girl Ronda Rousey (I call her ‘my girl’, but there’s a decent chance she would see it differently) and the rest of the UFC female bantamweights in EA’s UFC game, we really haven’t seen any kind of female presence in sports games.

FIFA 16 has broken new ground with the addition of female national teams to the game. Despite the fact that the commentary can sometimes be construed as slightly condescending during the women’s matches, a kudos to EA is in order here. This is no small deal either. There are millions of young girls out there playing sports who look up to these female athletes. It’s nice that they can now play as them in FIFA 16. Let’s hope we see more of this from sports games in the future.

The Verdict – True to Life: Not Always a Good Thing

FIFA 16 is by no means a disaster. The game is absolutely stunning visually and even gameplay has moments of brilliance that harken back to previous installments of the franchise. That’s part of the problem, though. FIFA 15 was beloved by many due to its wide open style of gameplay. It was truly an offensive juggernaut. And while it may seem like an insult to the sport to say this, FIFA 16 is a more accurate reflection of what the sport of soccer really is.

It’s a strategic sport — a game of chess being played between 22 players on a huge grass field. FIFA 16 captures that feeling better than any installment in franchise history. The problem is, chess is not incredibly popular among today’s video game crowd. We see series such as Call of Duty becoming more high-flying every year and fut 16 coins. In the sports world, we see leagues like the NFL constantly tweaking the rules in favor of the offense so the fans will see more scoring. Perhaps this is a product of a generation’s constant overexposure to various stimuli.

Whatever the case, if you’re a soccer fan for the suspense and strategy, you better be prepared to play FIFA 16 for the same reason because while patience may be a virtue, even those of us who enjoy a slowed down, strategic experience will have a tough time sinking our teeth into this year’s installment.

]]>The Dutchman has left the building and you’re the new boss at Old Trafford. Now, despite having a large pile of cash at your disposal and some extremely talented players, a career save with Manchester United on FIFA 16 isn’t as easy as you would first imagine.

Luckily the board expectations have been lowered on the latest version but (rightfully) you’re still expected to make the Champions League spots. Now if you’re playing on world class or legendary level this isn’t going to be easy and you will need to make the right decisions pre-season to avoid being removed from your position come May.

Armed with a tasty £57.5 million (or more if you can take advantage of the bonus % increase) and a wage budget of £1,895,250 it’s time to fix the Red Devils’ squad. Do you need a striker or are you going to trust Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial? Is Andre Herrera good enough to be your number ten and surely you’re going to need a central defender?

Here is what I decided are the best decisions to make (after three or four questionable careers with the Man United squad) that are sure to make you the next Alex Ferguson…

11. Make Sure You Update Your Squads Before You Start

A very obvious and brief first tip: If you don’t update your squads then you will have to endure the agony of having Sergio Romero as your starting goalkeeper and Marouane Fellaini as your centre forward every time you go into your team management.

If you can put up with that then ignore this information but you’re a stronger man than me.

10. Utilise Fellaini As Much As You Can (Or Sell)

Physicality is a big thing on FIFA 16 and due to the new defensive controls it’s handy to have a strong man in your side. Marouane Fellaini’s 89 physical rating puts him in the top bracket, which means that regardless of your opinion of him in real life he could actually be a crucial player for your Manchester United side.

He works well in the centre of midfield as he can steal the ball from lighter midfielders and start poignant counter attacks. He also wins a lot of the aerial balls that come from both goalkeepers meaning he will consistently help you retain possession.

BUT. If you cannot bare to have the Belgian brute anywhere near your Red Devils’ starting eleven then I would advise you to get rid of the player as you can make around £12 million (that does get you a very decent replacement) if you counter the offer a couple of times.

9. Send Andreas Pereira And Jesse Lingard Out On Loan

Andreas Pereira (66 overall FUT rating) and Jesse Lingard (69 overall FUT rating) could be two potential future superstars for your Manchester United career mode but they need to be handled with care.

I loan spell would work well for the pair and it’s up to you whether you list them for a one or a two year spell. Hopefully the players will both return as a near to a 75 rating as possible and then you can start to better them through training and a run in the first team side.

Warning. Do not sell them or release them as they have great potential on the game.

8. Sell Antonio Valencia

Don’t be fooled by Antonio Valencia’s 79 rating. The versatile midfielder simply isn’t good enough to play midfield and defensively he can’t compete with Matteo Darmain. The Ecuadorian simply hasn’t looked the part since Alex Ferguson’s departure and you can make around £9 million if you do choose to sell him.

Valencia’s worse trait is that he has a ONE star for ‘weak foot’ and if he is forced onto his left side he cannot cope. Sell. Sell. Sell.

7. Ease Anthony Martial In Gently

On FIFA 15, Anthony Martial (before he became known to the entire world) could play as an attacking inside forward as well as a striker. On FIFA 16 he can only play as a central striker, which is a bit annoying as it means you have to either play two up front or drop Wayne Rooney.

Despite Martial performing extremely well in real life, EA Sports (understandably) haven’t blessed him with ‘Thierry Henry’ finishing just yet but his 79 rating (78 shooting) is certainly good enough to grab you a few goals. His touch isn’t brilliant though and it will be important that you nurture the Frenchman and gently ease him into the team. Make sure you don’t neglect the training process and before you know it you could have one of the best forwards on the game.

6. Buy A Striker

Anthony Martial isn’t the final product yet and Wayne Rooney only has a 75 rating for pace. Both of these factors mean that you’re going to struggle to finish in the Champions League places if you decide to not purchase a sparkly new centre forward.

Alexandre Lacazette would be my first choice. He has an overall FUT rating of 84, 85 shooting, 84 dribbling and 88 pace. Quite simply he is a goal machine. You can normally sign the Lyon striker for cheap fifa coins. If you struggle to sign him or are pipped at the post by an annoying Bayern Munich offer then Everton’s Romelu Lukaku can offer you a cheaper but still very effective option.

5. Buy A Central Defender

Look, if you trust Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Daley Blind or Marcus Rojo then I’m not going to criticise you for it. Actually, I am. You’re foolish and wrong. If you wish to finish in the Champions League spots (like you are expected to do) then these guys will not get you there.

Aymeric Laporte is 21 years old and is already rated as an 83. The Athletic Bilbao is a wonderfully gifted central defender and one that will significantly improve your side. The problem is that he may cost you around £40 million and if you have already bought Aleksandre Lacazette (like I told you earlier) then your finances may be a little short. If that is the case then place a bid of around £20 million for Paris Saint Germain’s Marquinhos who has an 81 rating and will also bolster your defensive options.

Tip. If you do decide to buy either of the aforementioned then you should sell Phil Jones as you will make around £12 million.

4. Sign Felipe Anderson For £13m

Don’t kid yourself that you need to stay true to Michael Carrick. It’s that kind of thinking that will get you sacked before Christmas. It’s time to sign another centre midfielder to sit alongside either Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin (I advise the former).

That man is Lazio’s Felipe Anderson. The Brazilian box-to-box midfielder will give your team a evident boost that you wouldn’t get from Michael Carrick or Andre Herrera. His FUT rating of 79 will grow as he is only 21 years old and he is available for around £13 million. If you sell Michael Carrick then you can make a quarter of that money back anyway.

3. Play 4-2-2-2

Now, I’ve experimented with 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 but I didn’t enjoy any of them. I assumed that my 4-3-3 formation would work well having Alexandre Lacazette up front and Juan Mata and Memphis Depay either side of him but it didn’t work and I struggled to score goals.

I switched to a 4-2-2-2 formation and it seemed to get the best results. I used Bastian Schweinsteiger and Felipe Anderson as my centre midfielder pairing and put Mata and Depay in front of them as attacking playmakers by stealing their fifa 16 coins. I found that I needed two strikers to score goals with Man United and put Wayne Rooney and Lacazette up front.

This system worked well and I finished third in my first season on world class and Rooney and Lacazette scored 40 goals between them.

2. Sell Michael Carrick

You know that he is finished, I know that he is finished. Just get rid.

I’m sure he would love to end his career at Bologna anyway…

1. Sign Thomas Muller

Can you achieve what Louis van Gaal was unable to do? Let’s bring Thomas Muller to Old Trafford shall we?

The Bayern Munich forward will cost between £40-50 million but is worth every penny as he guarantees goals on FIFA 16. He has an overall FUT rating of 86 and has a score of 84 for shooting.

He will require around £150,000 per week.

]]>With FIFA 16 out now we've decided to pick out the 9 teams that we feel you have to consider for your FIFA 16 Career Mode game.

We’ve tried to get a balance between teams with a solid infrastructure and teams with a lot of potential. We’ve generally stayed away from teams that will require too much work but there are one or two in there that will keep you playing for a long time. Here are the 9 teams you have to play with in FIFA 16 Career Mode.

Portsmouth

As we’ve covered before, Fratton Park will be in FIFA 16 this year and for that reason alone you have to consider managing Portsmouth in FIFA 16 Career Mode. Travelling from League 2 to the Premier League with an authentic stadium will be a great journey and Portsmouth have some solid youngsters who can develop well with regular game time. The squad is more than capable of a promotion in the first team, how you build from there is up to you.

Borussia Monchengladbach

Given the fact that EA Sports have now added a realistic match day coverage for Bundesliga games you sort of have to have at least one FIFA 16 Career Mode game in the Bundesliga and we think that Gladbach could be a good bet. They’ve got a really exciting front line at the moment and a number of promising youngsters with Thorgan Hazard signed permanently now. On top of that Borussia Park is one of the latest additions to FIFA 16 and it looks absolutely fantastic.

Lyon

This year Lyon have been struggling in the league but on FIFA they really could be one of the best teams to play with. Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fekir amongst others have both received boosts whilst Mathieu Valbuena, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Rafel have all arrived over the summer. As ever the team have a lot of players with a lot of potential, the one to really keep your eye on is Maxwel Cornet.

AC Milan

Much was made about the business done by Inter Milan over the summer, and rightly so, but we think that on FIFA 16 Career Mode Milan make a more interesting challenge. The reason for this is that they have a fantastic balance of big names and young stars, combined with the fact that they have horrendously underachieved recently. Bringing through the likes of Hachim Mastour and Alessio Romagnoli will be great fun and you’ve also got Carlos Bacca, Jeremy Menez and of course Mario Balotelli.

Hull City

In case you’ve not noticed we’ve got a bit of a thing for clubs who have their stadiums in their game, when you’re playing FIFA 16 Career Mode it just adds that little bit of authenticity. Hull City have their stadium and they also have Andrew Robertson who can grow into one of the best left-backs in the game. Hull have still got a really solid squad so winning promotion shouldn’t be too hard, the challenge will be survival in the Premier League.

Valencia

Few teams have as many talented young players as Valencia, seriously it’s a bit ridiculous, just take a look at this list. Paco Alcacer, Rodrigo, Santi Mina, Zakaria Bakkali, Andre Gomes, Rodrigo De Paul, Danilo, Jose Gaya, Joao Cancelo and Matt Ryan. Told you it was extensive. Throw in a nice big budget of over £50 million and the fantastic Mestalla stadium and this is one brilliant FIFA 16 Career Mode save.

PSG

Don’t dismiss this one straight away. Of course PSG are the dominant force in France but it doesn’t detract from the fact that you get to play with fifa coins. Blaise Matuidi, Angel Di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Serge Aurier are all great fun to play with and of coure you have all the money in the world to build the squad how you want. The challenge will be delivering the Champions League before Ibrahimovic retires.

Crystal Palace

Wilfried Zaha, Yannick Bolasie, Jason Puncheon and Bakary Sako. If that front four isn’t enough to make you play with Palace then there’s no helping you. Alan Pardew’s side now have Yohan Cabaye as well and they look like a fantastic project on FIFA 16 Career Mode. With new chants added Selhurst Park should really be the fortress that it is in real life.

PSV

Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum may be gone now but that doesn’t mean you should forget about PSV. Maxime Lestienne, Davy Propper and Hector Moreno have all joined whilst Luciano Narsingh, Adam Maher and Jetro Willems look as promising as ever. The challenge for you is to try and win the league again, there’s also the small matter of Squawka interviewee Steven Bergwijn.

]]>For a limited time only, FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Mobile will offer rare orange cards for Halloween. As the first of its release, these special rare cards feature the “Most Feared” defenders in the game. Now, what makes these defenders feared?

Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng and Barcelona’s Jeremy Mathieu lead the way for the list of six defenders that have an in-game strength rating of 90. As shown on the individual cards, the Physical and Defensive attributes of the players average in the 80s. These are the strong towers you need in the heart of your defense!

If you haven’t yet, download the FIFA Mobile App and enter for a chance to win, as these cards are now available.

FIFA 16 Mobile Description

FIFA has a new name in iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. Now it is ‘EA Sports FIFA’ instead of FIFA 16 Mobile as almost everyone expected.

Play beautiful – on mobile! EA Sports FIFA let’s celebrate every awesome attack, nail-biting goal, and powerful win like never before with console-like graphics. Experience the most realistic set of football features on this game.

Here are the main features of this game:

All New-Engine

Get ready for better skill moves, more exciting goals, more responsive controls, smarter team mates and improved animations. Plus, now it’s even easier to play like a pro Enhanced Hybrid Controls that let you use Gestures or Buttons to control the ball. Gain improved offside awareness and more with Attacking Intelligence, then blow past defenders with ease. Also, for the first tie on mobile, you can trigger unique player celebrations on the pitch after you score.

Build and Manage your Ultimate Team

Earn, trade and transfer superstars like Lionel Messi, Jordan Henderson and Juan Cuadrado to create your own fantasy team. Choose your play style, formation, kits and more, then balance player chemistry for the strongest squad compositions.

Real World Football

Choose from over 10,000 players from over 500 licensed teams and go to battle against other players from real leagues in real arenas from around the world. Recreate challenges from current live-event football matches, too, with Dynamic Accomplishments.

Player Exchange

Now trade players and items you no longer need for a chance of unlocking something better. The higher value item or to buy cheap fifa 16 coins you trade, the better the upgrade you’ll get back!

]]>Football matches are often decided through rare moments of magic, and these moments are goals. But if you lose your matches by fine margins, or if you want to improve on your score, we have some easy tactics to assist you with your goals. So let’s delve right in.

FIFA 16 has improved shooting a lot; both near post and far post. During big games, try to watch the power bar and under-power your shots. By doing so, you will be able to slot it more accurately into the net, and even if the keeper makes the save, you can score with fifa ultimate team coins. Over-powered shots sometimes result in the keeper making a tremendous save, or the ball will sail out of play if there is too much power on the shot.

Another way, especially if you try to catch the goal keeper flat-footed from outside the box, or if you try to bend in the ball into the far post, is to use the “Finesse” shot. The player wraps his foot around the ball and curls it into the corner; outside the goal keeper’s reach. Hold the R1/RB and the Shoot buttons to score with the Finesse shot.

In high-line defense, when the goal-keeper is close to the player with the ball, the best way to score in this situation is to just tap the shoot button to release a grounded shot. With not much distance between the keeper and the ball, he is not able to react and the ball will find its way into the net. This is without doubt, the most effective way to score goals from close range.

Now with the traditional shot from the player’s laces, we all love to score from outside the box. Always pick a player with 80+ attributes of “Long Shots”. You will have a really good chance to score if you put your foot through the ball with enough fifa 16 coins. Another option to score a goal between a flurry of opponent players is to chip the ball. Once you master it, you see the ball sneak in just under the bar from all of 25 yards, it is extremely useful.

So the next time you play against the time and need a goal to win the match, you will have a clear idea of what options you have and which option is the best in the situation. The only way you can master these skills is if you practice, practice and practice. So get back on the pitch and show us what you are made up of!

]]>The development team at EA Sports working on FIFA 16 makes each Team of the Week delivery for the Ultimate Team special by allowing gamers to get their hands on some of the best players of the moment, as decided by their performance in league matches that took place over the weekend.

This time around, the studio is featuring superb performers like Neymar, Wijnaldum and Ibrahimovic, who all carried their teams to victory during their latest appearances.

Their cards can be obtained by players by picking up the special Fifa 16 coins pack, and they can then be integrated into their Ultimate Team lineup to improve the overall performance of the first eleven.

The attacking line of the Team of the Week for FIFA 16 includes Neymar, the Barcelona star who is replacing Messi, as well as Ibrahimovic.

When it comes to midfield, EA Sports has selected Wijnaldum, Gustafson, Pjanic, Kruse and Sterling.

The defensive department for the package is made up of three players and includes Bellerin, Marcelo and Chedjou.

The goalkeeper of the Team of the Week is Zieler.

Gamers also get access to a range of substitutes, who have not managed to perform well enough to get a starting slot but can still be used for trade or to shore up a position where gamers have limited choices.

The Team of the Week for FIFA 16 is important because it allows EA Sports to highlight some of the best players available in the game and gives fans some guidance for their own Ultimate Team efforts.

FIFA 16 encourages gamers to play beautifully

The football simulation has a large range of tweaks when compared to last year’s version, including more ways to defend, a new decisive pass moves and more options for attackers.

FIFA 16 is somewhat slower than previous entries in the franchise and asks players to focus more on creating spaces with their midfield before choosing the perfect moment to launch a striker towards the opposition’s goal.

When it comes to Ultimate Team, the biggest addition is the Draft experience, which focuses on semi-random teams and on short tournaments that can offer some big rewards for those who win four matches in a row.

Gamers have been asking EA Sports to tweak some of the core mechanics in order to make player pace more important, but the studio has said that it is generally satisfied with the experience that the title is offering and the reactions to its launch.

Two title updates for FIFA 16 have been launched so far, delivering a range of bug fixes and some tweaks for Ultimate Team.

EA Sports is continuing to listen to feedback from gamers and will deliver more patches for the game if they are required.

A major revamp for player ratings and for team lineups will be provided after the January transfer period.

The company has also said that it has big plans for cheap Fifa 16 coins, many of which will be focused on the Ultimate Team mode, which are designed to keep gamers engaged in the long term.

]]>There’s no getting away from the fact that in football, and FIFA 16, goals are the only thing that matters. It’s a simple game and in FIFA 16 it can often come down to which side has got the better finishers. With that in mind we decided to create the best FIFA 16 Finishing XI for our latest Squawka FIFA 16 Challenge.

This challenge is slightly different to our bad positioning XI. Whereas that one focused on building a terrible team that would be difficult to play with this is trying to assemble a team that is going to ooze goals. This team has goals from all areas and you should be looking to outscore your opponents rather than focusing on defending.

We’ve kept this at just Premier League players and we’ve also kept it as gold players although we may care about the latest Fifa 16 news and below one later on in the year. Your challenge is to try and assemble this team either in Ultimate Team or in kick-off and just have a go playing with them. This is the FIFA 16 Finishing XI.

GK: Ben Foster – West Bromwich Albion

Foster has never scored in the Premier League, although he was lobbed by Paul Robinson when at Watford but yet his finishing stat of 18 is the highest of any gold keeper in the Premier League. We’re a bit surprised we’ll be honest but maybe one day Foster will show exactly what he can do in front of goal.

RB: Seamus Coleman – Everton

Just like last year Coleman is in the team at right-back with a very impressive finishing stat of 65. He is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League and he has nine goals in the league since the start of 2013-14 season. A lot of attacks for Everton go through Coleman and it’s easy to see why.

CB: Chancel Mbemba – Newcastle United

Like Coleman Mbemba hasn’t scored this season but he too has nine goals since the start of the 2013-14 season. He has shown himself to be a bit of a threat from set-pieces and if Newcastle’s form continues to pick up his goal tally could rise as well. His finishing stat is 57.

CB: Jan Vertonghen – Tottenham Hotspur

Rather awkwardly Vertonghen the fourth player on this list who hasn’t actually score a goal this season in the league and after an initially bright start his goals have dried up a bit. Nevertheless his finishing stat of 60 is the most of any centre-back in the league and we’re still not sure why this wasn’t allowed.

LB: Leighton Baines – Everton

Baines is the third member of the back four who was in the team last season although his finishing stat of 70 was closely challenged by Aston Villa new boy Jordan Amavi (69). Baines hasn’t actually played in the league due to injury and we’re a little surprised his finishing is so high when the majority of his goals come from set-pieces.

RM: Alexis Sanchez – Arsenal

Ah finally, someone who has actually scored some goals this season. Sanchez has nine in his last five for both club and country and he really is in excellent form at the moment. His finishing stat is up at 85 and give he scored 250k Fifa 16 coins android in all competitions last season it’s easy to see why.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City

Okay so De Bruyne isn’t technically a central midfielder but in this team we had to have him in. He’s already scored three goals in the Premier League since joining Manchester City and the first strike against West Ham was a fantastic finish.

CM: Yaya Toure – Manchester City

Alongside De Brune in the middle is his City team-mate Toure who matches his finishing stat of 82. Both players have reputations for goals and the sheer number of goals from across the team is part of the reason why City are such a dangerous team.

LM: Eden Hazard – Chelsea

Last season Hazard managed 14 goals in the Premier League and although he’s yet to get off the mark this season there’s no doubting the Belgian’s ability, he’s just in a bad patch of form. In fact if anything he’s probably guilty of not shooting enough and looking for the pass instead.

ST: Diego Costa – Chelsea

When Diego Costa doesn’t try to wind-up defenders and focuses on his football he is actually rather good at football and is one of the best strikers around. The joy of FIFA 16 is that unless you tell him to he won’t go off trying to fight someone. It is no surprise that he is back in this team with a finishing of 90.

ST: Sergio Aguero – Manchester City

It was absolutely ridiculous that Aguero wasn’t on this list last season and it’s still a bit dodgy that his finishing isn’t ahead of Costa’s (for reference they’re both level at 90). Maybe EA have docked him a point because he can’t stay fit for more than a month at a time. Just imagine if he could though…

]]>Barely a month after its official release to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the football simulation video game “FIFA 16” is currently drawing positive reviews from both gamers and critics despite sub-par comparisons to Konami’s “PES 2016.”

In addition to bursting with new contents, one of the most lauded features of the “FIFA 16” is the FIFA 16 Ultimate Team (FUT) Mode, which is a game mode where players must learn to form teams with the cards they randomly get from digital booster packs, notes Game Reactor.

After assembling the team in the FUT Mode, gamers can start participating in several tournaments and get a chance to win a championship to earn more Fifa coins which can eventually be used to build their respective dream team.

Those in a hurry to get things done can always shell out real money, typical with most video games, but it is not an obligation or mandatory.

Constant internet connection

Some gamers shun the constant internet connection requirement on most video games, particularly those offering multiplayer and co-op gameplay modes. In the case of the FUT Mode, it also requires constant internet connection but the player is not forced to play against other players online.

It is just that internet connection is imperative because some of the features of the gameplay mode can only be accessed online.

While the FUT Mode gives gamers the excitement to create their own football team, they should always bear in mind that the most important factor to consider in playing the mode is team chemistry. Having the best players in the league in one’s team may look good on paper but without chemistry, it’s no different than playing with a rag-tag team of rookies.

The FUT Mode teaches gamers the value of teamwork and chemistry in team sports because regardless of how great one player plays the game, without the support of his teammates, he simply would not be able to earn the wins all by himself. Football is a team sport so when EA Sports developed it, it was looking for gamers to appreciate the essence of having good chemistry and playing as a team.

A new feature of the FUT Mode

The new and biggest feature of the FIFA 16 Ultimate Team Mode is the FUT Draft, which is a mode that allows gamers to create a team with random golden players.

The drafted team can then be used to play in a specific tournament where the gamer can earn great rewards. As in the case of real football draft, the challenge with FUT Draft is to create a quality football squad without breaking the team’s chemistry.

However, in order for gamers to be able to participate in the FUT Draft, they have to spend 15,000 Fifa 16 coins or a couple of quids, which would come off as their investment to the game.

Gamers invest on the FUT Draft in exchange for great rewards that they can unlock including several gold packs. The rewards are also linked to wins so the more the player wins in tournaments, the more rewards he can get.

Meanwhile, Fantasy Premier League managers in the UK will have the opportunity to win tickets to the Barclays Premiere League matches each month in the Official EA Sports FIFA 16 Sponsored League, details the Premier League.

The league also offers managers around the world a chance to win signed shirts of Barclays Premiere League clubs throughout the remainder of the 2015-16 football season.

Scoring for the EA Sports FIFA 16 Sponsored League began from Gameweek 1 so managers who have been playing this season will enter the league with their current points tally. The tournament will run throughout the seasons, with four pairs of match tickets to be given away to lucky winners after the final Gameweek of each month.

Meanwhile, less than a week before the official rollout to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One of “FIFA 16” last month, game developer EA Sports released the top 10 passers of soccer. The list is actually a major hint to gamers so that they can tap the playmaking players and use their skills to their advantage during the game.

Passers may not be the prolific scorers as the strikers in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, but as playmakers, they can actually change the complexion of the game entirely.

]]>Wijnaldum is the new hero of Newcastle United after their 6-2 win over Norwich City in the Barclay’s Premier League. EA may now decide to make Wijnaldum a hero of their own with a special card in time for FIFA 16 TOTW 6.

The dutch player scored four goals and that will mean that he will definitely be included in EA’s new TOTW lineup next week. However, the debate is now on via social media on whether he gets a special in-form card or a purple Wijnaldum Hero card on FIFA 16.

To recap, the hero cards that have been handed out so far include one to Lewandowski for scoring 5 goals in 9 minutes, Aguero for scoring five goals in a match, Ronaldo for breaking Real Madrid’s all-time record and likewise for Ibrahimovic with PSG.

Now, we can see that fans want to see another hero card for Wijnaldum scoring four however we have a feeling that EA will just hand out a standard in-form card instead.

Regardless of what happens, we can already see that Wijnaldum’s value on FIFA 16 has skyrocketed on the transfer market - to get cheap Fifa 16 coins. If you do have one of these cards now is the time to sell if you want to make a quick profit – you can get around 2,000-3,000 Fifa coins for him currently.

What are your thoughts on the TOTW 6 predictions – will Wijnaldum get a hero card or standard inform? Who else should be on the list?

]]>One new feature of FIFA 16 Ultimate Team on mobile is becoming extremely popular with the community and that is the new FIFA 16 Player Exchange feature that EA has introduced.

This feature allows you to use multiple cards to trade in for a single card of higher value. It is another lottery in other words, but we’re here to show you that if you are lucky enough it can produce the sweetest of rewards.

In other words, a confirmation that yes, you can get Ronaldo on FIFA 16 player exchange. We have evidence to show you and also a bonus screenshot showing another player getting Gareth Bale out of the mix.

For those that want to know how to get the best result from FIFA 16 Mobile player exchange, you need to ensure that you always have the ‘Gold to Gold Rare’ as your Reward Range setting.

To do this you just have to select high quality gold or gold rare cards until the parameter on your Reward Range changes with Fut 16 coins. Once you have done that you then have the chance to get an ultra rare card such as Ronaldo or Bale.

Watch the clip below, while feedback on the achievement can be seen over at Reddit here. How are you getting on with Player Exchange on FIFA 16 Mobile so far – do you wish this feature would come to console versions or not?

]]>In what is a rarity of sports games of the past several years, we have some choices when it comes to soccer titles. Unlike football, hockey and baseball, the consumer has a choice when it comes to picking their annual soccer game purchase (but honestly does NBA Live count as competition?). Having some good old fashion competition, in my opinion, really brings out the best of both products. It sometimes feels like this is the only way to avoid marginal game improvements on annual titles. FIFA 16 thankfully steps up its game to compete with Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (PES 2016).

As I stated in my PES 2016 review, I am not a huge soccer fan. I absolutely enjoy playing the games, but they aren’t titles I need to necessarily pick up every year. So as someone that plays soccer titles a bit more casually, my review should be taken under that context.

Right after you load up FIFA 16 you are immediately thrust into a game. No menus, no picking sides, just go. As someone who plays most sports titles I wasn’t very concerned that I could pick up the controls. Regardless of this, I was pleasantly surprised with a button layout overlay that comes up next to your player as you play the game. These overlays change based off of the situation you are currently in and are non-obstructive. After playing a bit with the overlay I couldn’t help but think how PES 2016 could have benefited from a similar interface. Both games generally don’t have difficult controls, but it is easy to confuse the two games’ control schemes and this made it easier to remember which buttons did what.

Something I mentioned with PES 2016 that seems to have garnered some criticism was the licensing of teams in certain leagues. It appears that EA Sports made sure to line the right pockets (like they usually do) because they have the franchises that are not included in PES 2016. Not only that, but they also have the international women's teams for the first time. I really enjoyed playing some matches with the women. The games felt like they were kicked up a notch. The women are a lot faster than their male counterparts and the match-ups felt a lot more offensive and scoring heavy.

Another new feature added to this season’s title is FIFA Ultimate Team Draft. I was expecting this mode to be nearly identical to the Draft Champions mode that was introduced in this year’s Madden (which I really like) and it is…mostly. For those that aren’t familiar with the mode, FIFA Ultimate Team Draft is essentially a sports fantasy draft mixed with Ultimate Team mode. Where the FIFA iteration differs from Madden, is that it requires you to use in game currency to play this mode (ohhhh no I can’t escape the microtransactions). You play a series of four games or until you lose. Once you’re finished you receive prizes depending on how you place within the four games. I played Draft, won all four games and received two gold packs to use for my Ultimate team. I like the concept of receiving rewards in Draft mode that can be utilized for my Ultimate Team.

The microtransaction portion of Ultimate Team mode has always bothered me, not only in FIFA but all of the EA Sports titles and this takes it to the next level. Outside of being given one free credit to Ultimate Team Draft, you will need to spend 15,000 Fut 16 coins or 300 FIFA Points.

The coins can be earned in game (as well as with real currency) but will definitely take some time, while the FIFA Points can only be obtained with real cash. So if you would like to play this mode frequently you most likely will have to pony up. Based off of my play with Ultimate Team Draft, I earned two different gold level packs of cards. The cost of which would not equal the cost of 15,000 Fifa 16 coins to enter the draft had I just purchased them separately.

One of the biggest problems I had with FIFA 16 I eluded to in my PES 2016 review. The A.I. controlling my teammates never felt like they were trying as hard as I was to win. I changed strategy settings to make them more attack heavy or more defensive and they all still seemed to act the same. If I wanted to get a steal or stop a shot, I had to take control of the closest player and do it myself. I enjoy being in control over the whole team, but I would still like the A.I. players to do their jobs. If the other team is moving downfield with the ball, don’t just stand there, make a play on the ball!

Another shortcoming was in the commentary department. I did notice some commentary adjustments depending on how many goals a particular player scored and if the game was a blowout. Outside of those and a couple other stand outs, the commentary was mostly forgettable, repetitive and boring. I would put the commentary in FIFA 16 on equal footing with PES 2016. Sports titles across the board still have a long way to go in getting commentary right.

FIFA 16 might take second place to PES 2016 this season, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great game. EA Sports usually sticks with the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” but with the soccer genre they have some serious competition. They’re challenged with tweaking and enhancing the game to keep up with PES 2016. While the game plays very well, it’s just not as true of a simulation as PES 2016 felt, in my opinion. If you’re a fan of the franchise I still think FIFA 16 is a solid purchase, especially with the addition of the women’s international teams which it has the exclusive on this season.

]]>Another year and yet another FIFA title to join the year-end ranks of gaming. It’s amazing how long the series has been running at this point and how EA Sports has discovered numerous ways to polish, hone and renovate the digital sport. Even with stand-out titles in Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer franchise, FIFA is here to stay and FIFA 16 seems to be the best yet. Please note that our entire analysis is based on the game’s demo.

Like PES, FIFA has been undergoing a shift in visual quality in the past two years. The Ignite Engine debuted in FIFA 14 two years ago and since then, it’s been used in every major current gen sports title from EA. It’s not all about better character animation, which has improved “ten-fold” over the previous generation or more realistic stadium members or even the improved physics to limbs and clothing. Ignite has also been pegged to feature better artificial intelligence calculations and allow its players to behave more akin to real-life athletes. Such a change in visual direction was to be expected and Ignite also lends itself to physical based rendering for added realism.

FIFA 16 on both the Xbox One and PS4 runs at 1920×1080 resolution and 60 frames per second. V-Sync is employed to ensure a steady frame rate during gameplay but this drops to 30 FPS in cinematic scenes like close-ups and replays, both manual and general. Oddly enough, frame rate spikes have been noticed during camera changes but it’s near instantaneous and you won’t even notice it.

MSAA 2x is employed for both versions of the game and does a great job of smoothening out any jaggies. The result is most apparent in objects with intense curves in their complex geometry – as a result, stadiums are of the highest image quality throughout. The PC version goes a step further with MSAA 4x which results in even better looking curves.

EA Sports made a pretty big deal about improved crowd graphics in FIFA 16 and despite how dumb some of the animations look, it’s managed to fulfill that promise. Models are now fully 3D and LOD relies on a less aggressive model to ensure clarity of details when the camera pans in and out. While the actual reactions don’t appeal to us, it’s hard to deny that FIFA 16 has the best crowd reactions till date in any football title.

Head to head comparison between PS4, Xbox One and PC versions. Select 1080p and 60fps option for best possible video quality.

When observing shadows throughout the gameplay, many of them appeared smooth but we noticed some dithering every now and then. This was noticed only on the console versions, primarily during cinematic cut scenes, replays and celebrations. The PC version doesn’t have this issue, if you have enough Fifa 16 coins pc. It should also be noted that Xbox One fans receive motion blur right out of the box along with all the other platform versions. Last year’s FIFA 15 saw motion blur patched in later and it’s a small sign of progress that helps maintain visual parity among the various platforms.

Even with dithering issues and 30 FPS frame rates, the replays are still one of the highlights in FIFA 16. The cinematic filter combined with the best goals, tackles and close calls really lend that extra polish to the presentation whether you’re a football fan or not.

That being said, all three versions suffer from inconsistent texture filtering. Trilinear filtering appears to have been used, which results in loss of details the further one looks into the distance. This is most noticeable with grass strands and goal bars looking blurry and losing detail when viewed from afar. Also, strangely enough, all three versions also feature weird player animations during gameplay and post gameplay sequences. Some good examples are the goal keeper quickly getting up to save from another shooting attempt or when a player slides again (resulting in an instant second step). Both animations look pretty jerky and remind us that Ignite’s skeletal animation system still requires a lot of work.

Player faces and models also look a bit off at times. The on-field emotions come across as incomplete as well and while one could point to the complexity of the system at play, PES 16 does a much more graceful job. We’ll look into just how deeply the two differ in this regard in the future.

At least the settings and environmental effects are well implemented. As with past installments, FIFA 16 features day/night settings along with rain and snow effects. This time around, they’re dynamic and you’ll even notice the playing field suffering from natural wear and tear like skid marks, foot prints, etc. Even players’ hands, legs and clothes tend to get dirty as a match proceeds with Fut 16 coins. We even noticed water squeezing out from the bottoms of shoes or in impressive streaks as the ball moves through the field. The wet weather doesn’t really affect the appearances of players though, and function more as subtle graphical touches.

Oddly enough, FIFA 16 on the PC doesn’t sport a range of graphical options to tinker with. You can adjust the resolution, with choices up to 3840×2160, low or high rendering quality, MSAA 2x or 4x, locked 30/60 FPS or limitless FPS and the ability to disable the Windows Aero theme in case of micro-stuttering. We’re not sure if this is better or worse than PES 16’s three graphical presets though FIFA 16 looks way better on PC.

Testing the performance on an Intel Core i7-5960X with 16 GB of RAM, we benchmarked on two different GPUs at 1920×1080 resolution.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 – Average: 240 FPS, Minimum: 218 FPS

Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 – Average: 160 FPS, Minimum: 122 FPS

We then tested these at 4K resolution.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 – Average: 133 FPS, Minimum: 106 FPS

Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 – Average: 63 FPS, Minimum: 42 FPS

In short, PC players can look forward to strong performance all throughout and even those with mid-range GPUs will have a good time. Oddly enough, we noticed a bit of screen tearing at times in the PC version. While it doesn’t occur often, there’s no denying its existence. One would hope this has already been patched.

Overall, all three versions are incredibly similar to each other. The PC version features better anti-aliasing and shadow quality with no dithering despite minimal screen tearing but otherwise, the PS4 and Xbox One versions perform very well. Unfortunately, it seems we’ll have to wait until FIFA 17 for better character animations and physics.

]]>The only thing soccer fans look forward to more than a new season is the new "FIFA" game.

So many questions emerge. Does it look better? Did they fix the issues I had with last year's version? How's the soundtrack? Is it worth shelling out another $60 for this year's version?

In that order, the answers are yes, some, not great, yes if your budget allows it.

But let's dive into more detail, shall we?

Looks

"FIFA 16" is the most beautiful "FIFA" yet.

Player movements are as loose and varied as ever before, and it helps make this year's game look like the best "FIFA" game so far.

Most player faces look even more realistic and recognizable than ever. That said, EA may need to apologize to Memphis DePay and Anthony Martial for botching up their facsimiles in the game. (Who else looks nothing like they do in real life? Tell us in the comments section!)

EA also smoothed out most of last year's game's occasional, yet infuriating, stuttery performance during penalties and free kicks. These are moments when you need to kick the ball at exactly the right time (according to the moving arrow on the screen) by pushing a button, and stuttering animation often led to botched penalties and free kicks. I still saw some stutters during a free kick, though. Which is to say: it's not perfect just yet.

Huge improvements to gameplay

Gameplay is also improved over last year's game.

One of the best things EA added to this year's "FIFA" is the powerful, fast pass when you press controller's right shoulder button. Before "16," players passed like they were having a kickabout in the park. The ball rolled so slowly that making long passes to cut through the midfield was always a bad idea.

There are other nice additions, like getting back up quickly after a slide tackle by pressing the slide tackle button again. And there are new body feints and different types of dribbling that add some new variety in what you can do on the pitch.

EA has also dramatically improved player AI in "FIFA 16." For one, AI players haven't been colliding into each other and collapsing like utter idiots as often as they did in "15." Great!

They're also much smarter defensively all over the pitch. AI player positioning is far better, as they close down space like (most) actual players. Defending players on both sides can also stay more with an attacking player, and you get the slightest assistance from the CPU that keeps the defender you're controlling on an attacking player who slips past you so the gap isn't so wide when he breaks away.

Players also make efforts to intercept the ball, which is another huge improvement over previous generations where players would only intercept if the ball came directly to their feet. While playing "15," I often questioned (cursed at the TV spitting with rage) if players knew they were playing a game of soccer, as they wouldn't make any effort at all to intercept a ball.

Above, my intercepting AI player stays in good position and does a much better job identifying the passing channels.

The defensive AI improvements also apply to the opposing team — it's going to take some adaptation on your part, as getting through defenders is harder than ever.

For example, too often do one of my players autonomously sprint to try and keep a ball in play, even if it was last touched by an opponent's foot. And they often ignore my commands when I try to pull them back using the stick.

Check out the example in the video below — an opposing attacker crosses the ball towards the goal, but as you can see from the yellow X, it's going out of play, which would result in a goal kick for me. But instead of letting the ball go to buy Fifa 16 coins, Jones rabidly sprints towards the ball to head it out even more than it already is. In the process, he becomes the last one to touch the ball, and the opposition end up with an opponent's threatening corner kick.

And notice Jones is supposedly under the control of the blue player, but despite pulling left on the stick, he's barreling right. It's exasperating. There are still times when EA decides it's best for the CPU to take over the controls entirely, and it's plain wrong.

There was an odd instance/glitch when one of my defensive players decided to stay in a forward position. He simply wouldn't get back to his defensive position, and I'm absolutely certain all my tactics and settings were set to the default settings. It only happened once, but it was odd.

It's a big update

EA's also made a ton of new additions to this year's "FIFA" game.

Of course, I tried out the new women's international teams, and it was every bit as fun, intense, and emotional as playing "FIFA" with the usual men's team. Fans of women's soccer will be utterly thrilled with this addition to "FIFA" games.

It's also added the "FIFA Trainer" option, where a large circle surrounds your player and suggestions for your next move floats above them. It's meant to help and ease beginners into the complexity of "FIFA" gameplay.

In career mode, you can play in new pre-season tournaments that let you break your new team into a new season. You can individually train up individual player attributes between matches to improve their performance, and it's also great for training up your youth team.

The franchise's most popular game mode, "FIFA Ultimate Team" (FUT), has a new Draft mode where you can fill out positions from a draft of five players. There are four matches in the Draft season, and you win better and better prizes the more you win.

Poor calls

Inevitably, some negatives still linger.

EA confusingly continues to leave out some practice features in the "FIFA" games that are crucial for learning and testing new tricks, tactics, formations, set-pieces, and general gameplay.

Instead, we can only practice one-on-one with a goal keeper in the third-person pro mode, which makes little sense. "FIFA" is mostly played from a television broadcast's point of view, so it's inexplicable why anyone would practice from a third-person point of view.

It's only good for practicing skill moves. And even then, if you perfect the joystick movements for a skill move in the third-person practice arena, you have to adjust the direction the joystick movements when you play regular game in the broadcast point of view.

]]>We have a reminder to all FIFA 16 players, as EA currently has an event going on right now offering you the chance to get Hero Ibrahimovic in a pack with double the odds.

EA sent out the message hours ago via Twitter, confirming that you have until 6PM on Monday evening UK time to open your gold or Promo packs to get double odds on both Hero Ibrahimovic and Hero Aguero cards.

Both are selling for over well a million on the transfer market right now, so there has been some lucky players out there getting these in a pack.

For those that have the Fifa 16 coins though and are thinking of splashing out, now we give you a look at a Hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic card review for FIFA 16 Ultimate Team.

He may cost over a million Fifa coins to buy, but he may even be worth that amount. His skills in the game are absolutely amazing and just take a look at the video below for an idea of the kind of goals he can score.

Backheel goals, skills in the box, it’s all no problem for Zlatan. Let us know if you managed to get one of these in a pack or if you are thinking of buying outright.

]]>“FIFA 16,” the highly anticipated latest installment in EA’s best-selling soccer video game series, was released Sept. 22. It’s gameplay is a modest improvement on past iterations of the game. Everything is slower — players sprint more slowly, they take longer to change direction and they take longer to control the ball. This is an improvement, as it emphasizes tactics and patient play. Passing the ball well and keeping possession are important ways to draw your opponents into vulnerable positions in “FIFA 16,” mirroring how real soccer is played. This is a departure from previous versions of “FIFA,” in which the best way to win was often to simply pick the fastest players and out-run your opponent.

From a visual perspective, “FIFA 16” scores. The players’ faces look better than ever, the players hold themselves more naturally and all the menus are clean and easy to navigate.

For a game like “FIFA,” however, improving the gameplay and graphics from year to year is not enough. Each year should bring new ways to play the game and new details to enhance the modes of play that already exist. In this department, “FIFA 16” has upshots such as the addition of women soccer players for the first time, but in other ways the game disappoints.

Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity is the game’s “Career Mode.” In Career Mode, a player can either play as the manager of a team, making trades and running the whole team without Fifa coins, or as just one player, starting from the bottom and working up to being an all-time great. “FIFA 16’s” Career Mode is essentially the exact same thing as “FIFA 15’s” and “FIFA 14’s.” No significant new feature was added to this mode specifically.

This is especially disappointing when compared to the Career Mode features of games like “NBA 2K16.” In the “2K” series, the player can form rivalries with other NBA players, give press conferences, sign shoe deals and select which skills to increase when given the opportunity. “FIFA” Career Mode feels lifeless and stiff by comparison — one plays the games, and that’s about it, just like last year and the year before.

Overall, it feels like “FIFA” is stagnating. That’s disappointing for people who love “FIFA,” but it should also be disappointing for people who love real soccer. Sports games, at their best, augment our enjoyment of the sports they represent. How many people learned the difference between man and zone coverage playing “Madden NFL?” Or what a pick and roll is playing “NBA 2K?” Or what the icing rule is playing “NHL?” Sports games bring new fans into the sport, and they turn casual fans into aficionados.

After its release in 1999, “FIFA 2000” sold about 220,000 copies in North America. “FIFA 15,” last year’s game, sold over 2.5 million copies in the same region. Over 17 years, that’s over 2 million new Americans who can tell you what the Champions League is, 2.5 million new Americans who can name a player on Chelsea FC, 2.5 million new American soccer fans. Because soccer is still developing a fanbase in America, “FIFA’s” ability to bring fans to the game is more important than in any other sport.

“FIFA 16” is a solid game — overall, an improvement on “FIFA 15”. It is still far from perfect, and that is disappointing because a mediocre “FIFA” title represents a missed opportunity for the continued growth of soccer in America.

]]>Being the best at football — or soccer depending where you're from — often requires having eyes on the back of your head.

The same can be said for football video games.

See, when you find yourself at the top of the world for a long time, it can be easy to lose sight of the competition as they suddenly sneak up on you and steal the ball from behind. It happened to FIFA video game competitor Pro Evolution Soccer, which relinquished its lead from the Playstation 2 says and essentially got relegated to the sidelines during the previous console generation. After many years spent at the top of the "futbol" mountain and a new console generation in tow, it's the FIFA video game series' turn to make sure it doesn't fall victim to the same move, especially given the impressive charge that its competitor mounted last year.

For its part, EA Sports attempts to fine tune its football formula in FIFA 16 with some notable changes. The most obvious one is the addition of international women's soccer teams, with U.S. women's team forward Alex Morgan sharing prime real estate with Argentine and FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi on the Fifa 16 account. It's a move that more jaded fans of the series might decry as they contend that the time invested in the move would have been better served on improving the core gameplay. Personally, however, I applaud the decision to add women's soccer to the mix as I'm a fan of the Women's World Cup. Based on the ratings generated by this year's championship game in the once not-so-soccer-crazy United States, it looks like I'm not the only one.

At the very least, it's one of the definitive advantages that FIFA 16 has over the suddenly game Pro Evolution Soccer 2016. It's also a refreshing change of pace as the women's side plays and feels differently from the men's game. My only gripe is that it doesn't include the Japanese women, although stalwarts such as the U.S. and Germany are at least represented among the 12 teams. Given all the negativity surrounding the FIFA organization's scandals, having one of the positive stories of the sport included is a big plus in my book.

Another change I noticed is that the defense has been tightened up a bit. It's something that's especially noticeable in higher difficulties, though it still isn't quite as suffocating as PES 2016. For the most part, I had an easier time weaving through the defense with the sprint button pressed and moving around in this game than I did with its rival. Depending on your preferences, that's either good or bad, but it's one point of distinction from its competitor. Passing also was made a bit more challenging so you can't just spam the pass button. It's improved over last year though still not quite as smooth as PES 2016. I recommend trying out different passing settings to find the one that works best for you.

For newcomers, I found FIFA 16 to be more beginner friendly as it's easier to pick up compared to the more technical controls of PES 2016. Graphically, I prefer the character models of the latter though FIFA gets cheap Fifa 16 coins when it comes to the stadiums as well as overall production values. Commentary is also better overall in FIFA 16 and it retains the advantage with licenses as well as its Ultimate Team mode.

What isn't as easy to answer, however, is which offers better action on the pitch. Both games certainly offer solid gameplay but they definitely feel different so this is one of those things that boils down to personal choice. Admittedly, I find PES 2016's gameplay to be a bit more engaging as I have to work harder to get through the defense and one-on-one confrontations feel like mini battles of their own. Some folks, however, might prefer FIFA's more arcadey style on the pitch and I won't fault them for that either.

]]>FIFA 16 is a difficult game. Along with having one of the most unfair and cruel difficulty settings we've ever seen in a football game, there are many controls to master. On top of all that, it's a game that assumes that the player knows their football, that they can read plays and apply that knowledge on the digital field. If you don't come prepared with years of practice on your Fifa 16 account, it may be difficult to find your feet in the new edition of EA Sports' football sim, and even if consider yourself a "master" in FIFA, you still need to relearn several elements. Fear not though, as we have decided to help out with a short guide that should offer a helping hand to anyone trying to tackle this year's entry in the series.

1. Knowledge

Before you can run, you must learn how to walk. FIFA 16 is a very complex game, with many types of shooting, passing and dribbling. To learn the basics, or even the most advanced features, take a peek at the videos that EA Sports has made available in the main menu. You can also use the new help system that provides contextual tips for players during matches. Play some games on the weaker difficulty settings and pay attention to the pointers from the help system.

2. Practice

After you have learned the theory of FIFA 16, it's time to put it into practice, and for this there is nothing better than beating the various Skill Games with top marks. Some of these challenges can be quite difficult, but after several attempts, you should be evolving. If you can master theses Skill Games, you will be better prepared than ever to face FIFA - online and offline - and will know most of the secrets of the gameplay.

3. The Art of Defence

Defending in FIFA 16 is a complicated task, and it has been this way since EA Sports changed to a manual defensive scheme. If it actually proves too challenging, you can change back to the classic scheme, which is almost automatic. In the controls section choose the "Legacy Defending" option. Other than that, try to stay calm when defending. Don't rush to the ball, or you will be dribbled past with ease. Calm, patience and timing are the foundations of a good defence.

4. Ball Retention

The artificial intelligence in FIFA 16 defends very well, so it's natural that some players will find it hard to maintain possession of the ball. If that's case for you, the first thing you should do is release the sprint button. There is often a tendency to run with the ball, but this can be a big mistake. Try to pass the ball frequently, wait for the other players to occupy the empty spaces and don't risk too much. This will allow you to keep the ball for a longer period of time, and will eventually open up attacking possibilities.

5. Attacking with Purpose

There are several ways to attack in FIFA 16. You can cross into the area, defend deep and let them attack before hitting them on the break, shot from outside the area or even make some one-two plays near the oposite defenders. There's no perfect way of attacking, but you should always take into account the team's strengths and weaknesses. If your strikers are small, crossing might be an inefficient way of trying to score. On the other hand, if your forwards lack pace, it won't be easy to launch rapid counterattacks. Be smart about how you attack and play to the best strengths of your team.

6. Tactics for Success

Formations and tactics in FIFA 16 are more important than many initially consider. Players will often complain that their team sits back too far on the pitch, that their forwards are always straying offside, or that there's not enough attacking runs in behind the opposition defence. All of this can actually be attributed to the team's tactics. Spend a bit of time adjusting the formation of your team, and consider what mentality you want them to express on the pitch. Do this and you will surely notice improvements in the way they play, and it should better reflect your own personal style.

7. Unlock Free Stuff

Have you noticed that you earn FIFA points whenever you fulfil certain actions? Well, there is a place where you can spend these hard-earned points. Via the main menu, press R3 to visit the items catalog. Here you can unlock coins for FUT, alternative kits, new celebrations, cheats for career mode, and several extra balls; all unlockable with FIFA points.

]]>So September’s done, which means only one thing. a new version of FIFA has hit the stores… oh and rAge is around the corner; oh and it’s nearly Halloween, oh and Spring is here and.. okay fine lots of things happen in September but the one we are talking about today is the new version of FIFA which I’ve been putting through its paces over the last few weeks.

I’m a massive football supporter and the FIFA titles are the ones that I normally head back to all season long in the run up to important games for my club, Liverpool, and so for me the realism and accuracy in the players is one of the defining issues for me – but official branding and graphics only goes so far and the longevity of any sporting title is in the gameplay and modes on offer. So lets run through this quickly and see what EA has offered up this year.

Graphics

EA make a huge effort every year to map all of the top players faces, body movements and styles – and this year is no exception. One of my favourite things about FIFA is that you can see who the players are simply by how they are running and moving on the field as they mimic their rea- life counterparts to near perfection.

The stadiums are expertly rendered and you can feel the vibe change throughout the different arenas with the most advanced crowd rendering and reactions yet. It isn’t an uncommon experience for people to wander past while you are playing and for them to mistakenly believe you are watching a live game…but it is by no means perfect.

Once again FIFA has failed on the rendering of the eyes and any close ups of the faces bring the startling failures to light. Looking into their eyes is like staring into the depths of an abyss with nothing but death and despair staring back. It really is quite jarring but thankfully this is only an issue during the beginning of the match when the teams are lining up and after the game starts the glorious graphics are back.

Gameplay

FIFA is a game where you need to take the ball and stick it into the opposing team’s net, oddly enough that aspect of gameplay hasn’t changed at all and that is still the goal. Non-sporting fans will never understand the passion that this embodies in people or the incredible intricacies that the sport has.

The most trumpeted enhancement to this year’s version of FIFA is the off the ball dribbling, where you are now able to shimmy and fake your movements off the ball to trick the opponent into moving the wrong direction.

Pulling off fake moves and sending an opponent in the wrong direction is hugely satisfying and from my experience it really does work extremely well, if you get it right. As with all real sporting simulators the difference between executing a perfect move and fluffing it massively is miniscule and it all depends on your ability as well as the skills of your virtual character under your control.

Knowing which character is better at which skill is part of the learning curve and seasoned players will definitely have the advantage here, but will still be challenged with the enhancements that FIFA 16 has included.

However it’s not all great as the passing in FIFA still feels overly sluggish and you will quickly realise that you will want to use through balls far more often than standard passing to get that fluid motion that you will need to overrun your opponents.

Different Modes

As always FIFA is choc-full of different gameplay modes like exhibition games, full seasons, grow your pro, European league, international tournaments and the always popular FIFA Ultimate Team.My personal favourite is the seasons experience where you can take charge of any of the hundreds of licenced teams and leagues and experiencing what it is like to manage your favourite team and take them all the way to the top.

This includes a fully-functional transfer system with scouts and windows along with the ability to assign specific training to specific players every week to enhance your players abilities.

FIFA Ultimate Team is pretty much the Hearthstone of football where you are given a random selection of player cards which you use to create the best team you can, while taking into account the different ways the cards buff each other. Then you take your team into tournaments and compete to win extra Fut 16 coins which you can then use to buy new packs and improve your team.

Or you could whip out your wallet and pay to get some quality players to speed up this process and then challenge the rest of the world. Personally it’s not my favourite part of the game but it is hugely popular and therefore is obviously back and probably better than ever.

There is also the new inclusion of the female teams in FIFA 16 but I’ve covered that already in another post

Online Experience

Being based in South Africa makes the online experience different than it would be in many other countries. Our Internet is still not up to first world standards and even the lucky ones with fibre connections aren’t saved from poor online experiences with our country being so far from Europe that we are often still subjected to bad lag online.

The first thing we always need to check is how the game plays if our Internet is down and thankfully EA have not put anything behind an online firewall that isn’t absolutely required. You can enjoy the entire single player experience without ever going online and while being online adds a social element with leaderboards and the ability to share your experience, it is entirely optional which is the way all games should be made.

I did manage to enjoy a couple of online season games against opponents and to be honest I was quite surprised at how well that worked. Finding games was fast enough and the lag in game was more than acceptable with me being able to hold my own against equally-matched opponents.

In The End

Obviously comparisons will be made between FIFA 16 and PES 16, In my brief experience with PES the gameplay felt more complex than FIFA but the game also feels like it is missing a lot of the experiences that FIFA can offer. While previously FIFA won out every time due to the far superior licensing and gameplay I think it’s fair to now say that the comparison is much closer.

I prefer the FIFA experience due to the additions of extra modes, licensed deals and the overall experience. Whether it is superior when it comes to gameplay will continue to be argued by fans from either side. However what is quite clear is that FIFA 16 is the better game for newcomers with a built in, extensive training mode and a plethora of options to make the game easier with a range of passing and shooting assistance options.

The one thing that did drive me insane is the consistent mistakes the commentators made, for example calling the game a tight game while I’m leading 5-0 or saying the opponent is leading while the game is 1-1. It definitely broke the immersion and is something I expect EA to patch very soon.

For the next 12 months I personally will be invested in FIFA. It hasn’t let me down at all this year.

]]>By now you might have noticed that FIFA 16 and Ultimate Team features auto buyer bots, even though EA Sports has tried to stop this practice in the new football game. There’s plenty of players going up much cheaper than their current value, but you will never be able to purchase these due to what looks like bots using the FIFA 16 web app.

You might try to hang around the 60 minute mark to catch gold consumables and players at cheap “Buy It Now” prices. The likes of Iniesta, Arjen Robben, John Terry, Petr Cech, Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Robin van Persie go for thousands, but even seeing a crazy deal within seconds still leads to expired items. How is this possible you might ask? After seeing this during our review, we thought FUT 16 bots were running rampant and later discovered it’s not always a bot in FIFA 16 making quick purchases.

FIFA 16 Web App with Auto Clicker – There’s other FIFA 16 trading methods being used on both Windows PC and Apple Mac computers that take advantage of auto clicking using a web browser. One such software download is called “Auto Mouse Clicker” by Murgaa, which is being used by those on both Windows and Mac.

In a nutshell, this software allows a FIFA 16 trader to setup click points on their screen for purchasing players within the web app. It will keep searching for a predefined buy it now price, and then also purchase when the search delivers a result. This is different to automated buying by the likes of Ultimate Bot, as it’s a free method some people are using within the official FUT 16 web app.

We have seen the likes of Koke, aka Jorge Resurreccion Merodio, being sold for just 1,000 gold Fut 16 coins at a buy it now price. This is way below market value and these player prices get snapped up by bots, or auto clickers, before gamers get a chance on Xbox One and PS4. This is certainly not fair and we find it hard to see how EA can stop this practice. Bottom-line it ruins the true FIFA trading experience and maybe the only way to stop it would be to pull the web app.

Even the FIFA 16 auto clicker software and other autobuyer trading methods cannot purchase fast enough in the web app. This is where bots are almost certainly helping others get Fifa 16 coins extremely fast, so what chance do the honest players stand? Let us know in the comments how you feel about trading in FIFA Ultimate Team with bots and auto clickers getting the best prices?